Adjustable head-rest for chairs



(No Model.)

1110mm. ADJUSTABLE HEAD BEST FOR. GHAIRS.

No. 342,830. PatentedJune 1, 1886.

NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.-

JOHN HOGAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,830, dated June 1, 1886.

Application filed November 20, 1885. Serial No.183 453.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN HOG-AN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Head-Rests for Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to head rests which are placed on the top of the back of chairs, and especially reclining and easy chairs, and it has special reference to the construction and arrangement of movable or ad readily by the occupant of the chair without easy reach of the raised hand; and this feature of the invention is further elaborated by duplicating the devices which move the looking mechanism, so thateither hand may be used at will of the occupant of the chair.

A thirdobject is to so box the locking and spring mechanism as to permit of the npholstering of the chair so that the mechanism is substantially concealed at all times, and this I accomplish by forming the top rail of the chair back of L shape and the head rest frame of an inverted-L shape, the pivots being at the lower forward angle of the parallelogram or box.

In addition to said general features, there are other minor features relating to the specific construction of the locking mechanism, all of which will hereinafter more fully appear.

To more fully describe the construction of (No model.)

my improved adjustable head-rest and its operating parts, reference is had to the accom panying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side View of an easy chair with my head-rest attached to the top of the chair-back. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 3, showing the locking devices and one spring for throwing the head-rest forward. Fig. 3is a cross-section of the head-rest on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4isaperspective view of the locking devices.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.

A represents the head-rest proper, which consists of a wooden frame of two pieces, a and a, fastened together to form the "1 shape. (See Fig. 3.) Around the top and front of this frame is formed the cushion or upholstery.

The object ofmaking the wood frame of the "l shape shown is to allow of a cushion about three-fourths round, so that in whatever positionit may be its contour will be the same. I) is the upper rail of the chair-back, which I make of the L shape shown in Fig. 3 by attaching to the lower front edge of it the horizontal piece I).

The head-rest is hinged or pivoted with the bottom edge of the frame-piece a at a to the front edge of the horizontal piece b of the top rail, 1), of the chair-back. (See Fig. 3.) The object of making the top rail, I) I), of the L shape shown is to permit the head-rest to be hinged as described, in order to bring and keep the cushion or upholstery of both the chair-back and the head-rest flush against each 4 other at the point of hinging, and so that the hinge is entirely concealed at all times,no matter in what position the head-rest may be, thereby adding neatness and beauty to the chair. Further, by hinging the parts together as described, a L'] shaped box is formed by the Tshaped frame of the head-rest and the L- shaped rail of the chair-back for the reception of the operating mechanism, (hereinafter described,) so that it will be entirely out of sight, and fully protected from interfering with the upholstery or any other parts of the chair, as well as the occupant of the chair.

In the middle of the frame-piece a of the head-rest is countersunk a U-shaped metal bracket, 0, into which is hinged or pivoted a bar, 0, provided with pinholes 0. (See Figs. 3 and 4.) This bar Cpasses through a slot, d, in the vertical top piece of the top rail, b, of the chair-back, and a pin or pawl, d, turning on a pin, d of the plate d secured on the inside face of the said top rail, I), and to one side of the slot d, engages these holes 0 of the bar 0 from one side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. This pawl d has eyelets e and 6, one of which is above and the other below the point (P, upon whichthe pawl turns.

D and D are rods, one engaging the upper eyelet, e, and the other the lower eyelet, e, the former passing to the right and the latter to the left side of the chair-back frame, and are each provided with a push-button, f, at this end.

9 are coil-springs around the ends of the rods, and are incased in the frame of the chairback. One end of these springs 9 acts against the wood of the casing, and the other against the push button, and by their action keep the rods in the position shown in Fig. 2, the buttons protruding out at the sides of the chair-back frame, and the pawl-in engagement with the bar 0, the head-rest being thus locked and firmly held in the desired position. More or less tension may be given these springs by means of the push-buttons which move in and out on the threads on the ends of the rods. By pushing in either or both buttons the pawl is withdrawn from engagement with the bar 0, thereby unlocking the head-rest, and allowing same to be thrown forward through the action of one or more springs, E, secured to the top rail, b, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) and acting with arms 0 against the head-rest frame-piece a, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Upon releasing the buttons ff the coil-springs g g return the same with the rodsD and D into original position, and the pawl dinto engagement with one of the holes 0 of the bar 0, again locking the headrest firmly and in the new position. Upon again releasing the pawl by means of the pushbuttons, and unlocking the head-rest, the latter is pushed back again as far as desired by means of the head of the occupant of the chair.

To prevent the arms e of the spring E from wearing into the wood of the head-rest frame, a metal plate may be provided as an intermediate between the arms and frame. This head-- rest, as just described, is easily operated by any person while occupying the chair, and

back, as shown in the drawings, or narrower, if desired, for smaller head-rests, such as are used in dentists and barbers chairs.

I do not limit myself to the style of spring shown and described, as any other style may be used to adapt itself for this same purpose with any locking mechanism, the spring I have shown, however, adapting itself best with my construction of a head rest and means for looking it, as it takes up little space and is cheap as well as durable.

I am aware that a locking device for an adjustable head-rest has been devised wherein are combined a shaft :having two segmental ratchets, a pawl cross-bar adapted to engage the ratchets, and two bow-springs attached to the pawl cross-bar and adapted to hold the pawl-bar in the notches of the Segment-ratchets and thus secure the head-rest after it has been adjusted, and I do not herein claim such a combination of devices.

What I claim is 1. The combination, with the top rail of a chair-back, of a movable head-rest, a spring for actuating the movable head-rest, and a graded or variable locking mechanism for securing the head-rest in different positions, whereby the head-rest will adjust itself to the head of the occupant of the chair, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination, with a chair-back havo ing an L-shaped top rail, of an inverted-L- shaped rest-frame pivoted thereto at the lower forward angle to form a box for thellocking mechanism of the movable head-rest, and the locking mechanism concealed therein, sub- 5 stantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination, with the top rail of a chair-back, of a movable head-rest pivoted thereon, a locking mechanism for securing the movable head-rest, and one or more transr00 verse rods for actuating the locking device,

JOHN HOGAN.

Witnesses:

CHAS. F. MEISNER, CHAS. E. METZ. 

